Ericsson’s Cloud Connect service, an integrated component of its IoT Accelerator, is said to make it easier for enterprises to connect cellular devices securely to public cloud IoT endpoints such as AWS IoT Core.

With an estimated five billion cellular IoT devices to be in use by the end of 2026, according to the Ericsson Mobility Report, enterprises are increasingly outsourcing device authentication and data management to public cloud providers such as Amazon Web Services (AWS).

Enterprises on Ericsson IoT Accelerator-managing cellular devices such as sensors, meters or tracking devices now have a simpler way to connect to the already secure AWS server through IoT Accelerator Cloud Connect, which moves complex encryption from the device to the edge of the cellular network.

Companies across multiple sectors have welcomed the capability.

Steve Dunn, CEO at Digital Keys, a smart IoT security company, said: “Our cellular connected smart locks with digital keys application are used for banks, hotels, universities, office buildings, shared labs and apartments. Every smart lock has a SIM card that needs to connect to the cellular networks and the AWS cloud securely. It was a smooth process with Ericsson’s IoT Accelerator Cloud Connect.”

Communication service providers (CSPs) play a crucial role in the IoT ecosystem, providing global cellular connectivity using IoT Accelerator. With more than 35 global CSPs already on IoT Accelerator, enterprises of any size can manage the connectivity of their devices worldwide. It is now easier to connect to AWS IoT Core.

Cristoff Martin, chief marketing officer at Telenor Connexion, said: “This capability, integrated with our IoT cloud service also developed together with AWS, will allow even more efficient development and operation of new connections taking benefit of network technologies like narrowband-IoT and the superior security capabilities of mobile networks in general.”

Jan Willem Smeenk, chief architect at Sodaq, a solar-powered asset tracking company that specialises in scalable IoT hardware and software, added: “It is costly and complicated to connect our smart asset trackers securely, but with Ericsson as a key partner, we were able to order SIM cards from the operator on IoT Accelerator, insert them into our device with no additional encryption or certificate management required. Then, using Ericsson’s IoT Accelerator Cloud Connect, the device is authorised and automatically provisioned to the target AWS destination. It was simple and can serve our customers of any scale and size.”

Connecting to AWS IoT Core requires each connected device to use transport layer security (TLS) encryption for all communications. With Cloud Connect, the IoT Accelerator service offers a plug-and-play alternative. In this, enterprises benefit from simple activation of devices that tunnel to the edge of the cellular infrastructure before automatically self-provisioning to AWS and securely connecting via Cloud Connect generated encryption and keys.

Rauno Jokelainen, chief technology officer at Uros Group, a digital water services company, said: “We see high value with the use of Cloud Connect in the Uros sense liquid quality-as-a-service to provide real-time water quality detection to the municipalities and enterprises around the world in an easily deployable manner. With this, we can bring the peace of mind to the CIOs of the municipalities that their water networks are monitored in a secure manner.”

With Cloud Connect, devices with unencrypted yet privately secured communications over cellular network leveraging MQTT or narrowband UDPs such as constrained application protocol (CoAP) can connect seamlessly to AWS IoT Core, resulting in lower power and data consumption.

Initial results show that Cloud Connect enables low-powered devices to reduce mobile data by up to 95 per cent and extend battery life by up to 50 per cent by removing the need to run public end-to-end internet encryption.

“As enterprises connect more IoT devices to the public cloud, they want an easy and secure way to ingest IoT device data to AWS,” said Michael MacKenzie, general manager for AWS IoT connectivity and control. “Simple solutions like Ericsson’s IoT Accelerator Cloud Connect give enterprises flexibility by leveraging AWS IoT to easily manage and authorise devices, use zero touch provisioning, and ensure data are encrypted and secure.”

Kyle Okamoto, general manager for IoT at Ericsson, added: “Ericsson’s IoT Accelerator Cloud Connect removes barriers for enterprises to connect their IoT devices to numerous public clouds and to optimise the IoT data management infrastructure offered by providers like AWS. This means a faster time to market for enterprise devices and products. We are excited to offer this service to our IoT Accelerator community of over 7000 enterprises globally.”